'Sab changa si?'

In the context of one of the most prominent sectors agriculture Budget 2023 is inclined towards private investment, startups and credit, rather than government spending

- SHAGUN KAPIL

The agriculture sector was expected to be on a high-priority list but it has been ignored in the Union Budget 2023-24, with even flagship government schemes receiving a lacklustre allocation. The overall allocation for the sector saw a marginal increase of 4.7 per cent from Rs 11,02,54.53 crore in the Revised Estimates (RE) of the financial year (FY) 2022-23 to Rs 11,55,31.79 crore in 2023-24.

Including the department of agricultural research and education, the overall allocation to the sector was Rs 12,50,35.79 crore, against the 2022-23 revised estimates of Rs 11,89,13.42 crore. But the allocation has been reduced by almost 7 per cent compared to what was proposed in the 2022-23 budget. The share of agriculture in the overall budget has also fallen sharply in the budget for FY 2023-24.

While the sector got 3.36 per cent of the total allocation last year, this time it was just 2.7 per cent of the total budget.

The government had set an ambitious target to double farmers' income by 2022.

But while there was absolute silence on that promise, two major schemes - Market Intervention Scheme and Price Support (MIS-PSS) and Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Yojna (PMAASHA) that ensure minimum support price-based procurement operations in the country saw a drastic cut.

MIS-PSS was virtually ignored as its allocation got reduced from Rs 1,500 crore to Rs 1 lakh, almost a 100 per cent cut. The PM-AASHA scheme also saw a reduction from Rs 1 crore to Rs 1 lakh. The allocation to Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN), a cash incentive scheme for landholder farmers, remained unchanged, at Rs 60,000 crore.